Nonemployer Statistics is an annual series that provides subnational economic data for businesses that have no paid employees and are subject to federal income tax. The data consist of the number of businesses and total receipts by industry. Most nonemployers are self-employed individuals operating unincorporated businesses (known as sole proprietorships), which may or may not be the owner's principal source of income.

The majority of all business establishments in the United States are nonemployers, yet these firms average less than 4 percent of all sales and receipts nationally. Due to their small economic impact, these firms are excluded from most other Census Bureau business statistics (the primary exception being the Survey of Business Owners). The Nonemployers Statistics series is the primary resource available to study the scope and activities of nonemployers at a detailed geographic level. For complementary statistics on the firms that do have paid employees, refer to the County Business Patterns. Additional sources of data on small businesses include the Economic Census, and the Statistics of U.S. Businesses.

The number of businesses without paid employees in the U.S. reached 22.7 million in 2012, up 1.1 percent from 2011, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This marks the third straight annual increase in nonemployer businesses, which are businesses with no paid employees, annual business receipts of $1,000 or more ($1 or more in the construction sector) and are subject to federal income taxes.

Nearly all industry sectors that make up nonemployer businesses experienced growth in the number of establishments and receipts, according to findings from the report released today. Nonemployer Statistics: 2012 includes data on nearly 450 industries in metropolitan areas, counties, states and nationwide.

"Nonemployer businesses represent entrepreneurship in perhaps its purest form, including the classic 'mom and pop' shops and people running businesses out of their homes," said William Bostic Jr., the associate director for economic programs at the Census Bureau.

This release covers 19.6 million sole proprietorships, 1.4 million corporations and 1.7 million partnerships, which account for the total number of nonemployer businesses.

Florida had the largest increase in nonemployer businesses, with 57,978 added in 2012. California (39,051), Texas (38,504) and New York (15,207) had the next highest increases. California still had the largest number of nonemployer businesses with 2.9 million.

Among counties, Los Angeles County, Calif., added the most nonemployer businesses (17,741). Miami-Dade County, Fla. (13,842), Broward County, Fla. (9,132), Harris County, Texas (7,372) and Orange County, Calif. (5,909) had the next largest increases.

Nearly all industry sectors saw growth, with the retail trade sector gaining the largest number of establishments, adding 57,154 in 2012 (a 3.1 percent increase). The construction sector, however, declined by 41,171 establishments (a loss of 1.7 percent), and the health care and social assistance sector lost 25,071 establishments (a loss of 1.3 percent).

Other highlights:

Nation

Total annual receipts for nonemployer businesses were $1.0 trillion in 2012, an increase of $41.3 billion from 2011. There has been a continued increase in the number of nonemployer businesses since 2009 when there were 21.7 million locations reported.

States

California had the highest total receipts, with $149.4 billion. Texas had the second highest receipts with $97.1 billion, followed by New York with $77.4 billion.

Florida had the highest percentage increase in the number of nonemployer locations at 3.4 percent. Hawaii (3.2 percent), the District of Columbia (2.8 percent) and Louisiana (2.8 percent) followed.

Counties

Los Angeles County, Calif., showed the largest total nonemployer receipts with $47.2 billion in 2012.

Travis County, Texas, up 9.1 percent from 2011, had the largest percent increase in receipts. Gwinnett County, Ga. (8.3 percent), Miami-Dade County, Fla. (8.2 percent), Dallas County, Texas (7.8 percent) and Clark County, Nev., (7.8 percent) followed.

This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.